8 Chinese peacekeepers buried, 10 missing in Haiti earthquake

So far there have been no exact casualty figures for Chinese nationals in quake-hit Haiti. The country has a 125-member peacekeeping police detachment on the Caribbean island. The China Daily website has quoted an official from the nation's Earthquake Emergency Rescue Team as saying that 8 Chinese peacekeepers were buried, and more than 10 others are missing.

The eighth detachment of Chinese riot police left Beijing last June for an eight-month UN peacekeeping operation in Haiti. The 125 members of the squad, including six women, are mostly border control officers from Southwest China's Yunnan Province. These young men and ladies received strict training in riot control, peacekeeping methods, and other UN-outlined programs.

The Chinese community in Haiti includes about 200 Haitian Chinese, along with an unknown number of Chinese nationals doing business and traveling in the country.

China's Foreign Ministry has launched an emergency mechanism in the aftermath of Tuesday's devastating earthquake. Officials are making every effort to detail the situation of Chinese citizens and institutions in Haiti.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, collapsing a hospital and damaging government buildings in its capital city of Port-au-Prince.